


Tremble, Little Lion Man

by Kokodle



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Angst, Bullying, Character Death, Dead Spencer Reid, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Heat Stroke, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt Spencer Reid, Oneshot, Patron Saint of Lost Causes AU, bullying leading to death, hotch blames himself, i have no idea how law inforcement works, i traumatize a groundskeeper, spencer dies of heat stroke cause no ones finds him, the bullys kinda feel bad, themetaphorgirl's psolc AU, this is pumped full of inaccuracies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27555253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kokodle/pseuds/Kokodle
Summary: Patron Saint of Lost Causes AuNo one had seen Spencer they were to caught up in there own things and then they did see Spencer but he was dead, why was he dead?
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Tremble, Little Lion Man

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Patron Saint of Lost Causes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442195) by [themetaphorgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/themetaphorgirl/pseuds/themetaphorgirl). 



> Thank you to themeatphorgirl for letting me use her Patron Saint of Lost Causes AU it's a great story that you should check out if you haven't already  
> Trigger warining-  
> vomiting

They find Spencer in the morning. He had been tied up all night screaming and crying for someone to help him but no one came and no one cared enough to find him. The groundskeeper found him when he went out to make sure everything was in order like he did every day. The image of the dead boy would never leave his mind; he would hold it in his mind forever no matter how hard he would try to forget it.

It was burned into his brain the image of a little boy, no greater than ten, slumped forward against the ropes that the grounds keeper knew were holding the boy up. He thought for a second that maybe the boy was still alive but as he got nearer he heard noises and he saw no movement, no rise or fall of a chest, from the boy and so he did what he thought was best he called the police.

Derek had gone to his room after weight training with coach Buford, he took a shower then promptly collapsed, he didn’t think of where Spencer might be, he thought he was at dinner, they wouldn’t mind if he ditched them just this one time.

JJ had finally nailed her double pirouettes, but she just kept going because she wanted to feel the rush it gave her to do something she loved. She was so exhausted that she went to her dorm without dinner. Had she left when she was done with the double pirouettes she would have run into Derek.

Penelope was angry at Emily; she didn’t want to see her so she rushed to her room to watch a movie to get her mind off of Emily. She was so angry that she missed dinner she would just eat anger for dinner.

Emily was sitting down on the edge of the creek her feet dipping into the water she swayed them she didn’t want to explain why she didn’t come to debate club so she avoided Penelope, she thought of things to give her to make it better and she didn’t go to dinner she had to make thing right and she knew that but she would tomorrow.

Hotch spent dinner with Haley, they didn’t even go to the dining hall they just laughed and talked and it was nice, she even kissed him on the cheek. When he got back to the dorms he was so giddy that he messed up on bed count, he looked into Derek and Spencer’s room and the lights were off and He heard snoring so he assumed that they were both there and moved on.

James, Alex and Dave were still at the seminar when dinner rolled around, the seminar handed out snacks but they all knew that it would probably run late and there was no way they were going to make it out in time to catch any dinner. When they got back it was late and so they just went to bed.

Hotch was awakened by knocks on his door and when he got up to open it Gideon was standing there with a somber expression on his face he looked out the window it was still dark outside. “You’re Spencer Reid’s RA right.” He was confused by the question but he answered it “Yes, why do you need to know, has something happened.” He wanted to know what was happening but Gideon wasn’t being that helpful

“You turned in the bed check last night and it says that he was here are you absolutely sure he was here and in his bed last.” Hotch knew now that something had happened to Spencer, but he answered truthfully “I’m not completely sure I didn’t go in. It was dark and Derek was snoring and it isn’t like Spencer to break the rules, so I thought he was there. Why do you need to know?” He was scared at what Gideon would say next but he didn’t know it would break his heart

“Spencer Reid was found dead this morning by the groundskeeper he was tied to the goalpost on the football field, he died of heat stroke.” Hotch couldn’t believe this was happening this couldn’t happen “What do you mean?, he can’t be dead, I saw him yesterday, he was ok yesterday, what do you mean. You're lying to me, you have to be, he's not dead.” Hotch was rambling but he just couldn’t believe it Spencer was dead and it was his fault. 

Gideon then went to see Derek and knocked on the door until Derek opened it. Derek was surprised when he heard knocking at his door usually Hotch would just come in but he got up and answered the door anyway. He was of course surprised to see Gideon standing there; he was more surprised when Gideon asked to come, if he was in trouble Gideon would have taken him out of his room and not gone into it.

“Your roommate is Spencer Reid right.” Derek was confused at the out of nowhere question “Yes, why do needed to know, did something happen, is he ok?” He had so many questions and he knew that Gideon would probably not answer very many “Spencer Reid was found dead this morning, I’m sorry you seemed close.” Gideon got up to leave and Derek wanted to attack him he wanted to beat him to a pulp he knew that he can’t but he wants to he knows you can’t shoot the messenger but how he wants to how he wants to just attack him.

As soon as Gideon left Derek picked up a glass from his nightstand and he threw it on the floor he threw it and it made a satisfying crack sound as it hit the floor, he grabbed the other cup on his nightstand and he threw that one on the floor too. He reaches over to grab the next cup he sees and he grabs Spencer’s cup they had gotten for him and it had math symbols all over it. Derek couldn’t breath everything hurt and he wanted to throw the mug on the floor to into the pile of broken glass and ceramic and be done, be done with Spencer but he couldn’t, he couldn’t move his arm and he sunk to the floor, leaning against his bed and he cried, he sat there and cried next to the pile of broken glass 

Hotch told the rest of the group. He called Alex first and when she picked up he started to cry he couldn’t believe it he didn’t want to believe it he told her and then she was crying and so he hung up he couldn’t handle hearing her cry too, he knew that she would tell Emily so that was a relief that he didn’t have to tell her. Then he called James and Dave and said it as fast as he could and after each one he stopped to breathe.

He had to tell Penelope and JJ and he was scared he decided on impulse to tell them himself so he went down to there floor and he saw Tara their RA and she hugged him and said that she hadn’t told them yet and that he should. Hotch didn’t want to, he wanted to run as far away as he could in as little time as he could but he had to.

He walked into their room and they were both sitting on their beds wide awake and Penelope was the first to talk “Tara said something was wrong, that she needed you to tell us.” Penelope was scared she wanted answers and so did JJ “ You have to tell us what's going on, I need to know.” with the way they were sounding Hotch was about to cry so she said “Spencer died.” he said it in the most quick and efficient way possible and he turned around, he wanted to leave but he knew that he can’t just go like that so he turns back around to look at the stunned faces of Penelope and JJ.

Haley had no idea what was going on. She was waking up when a police officer knocked on her door “Hello I’m Officer Brian is this the dorm room of Harper Hillman.” he asked when she opened the door “Yes, she’s still asleep but I can get her, why do you need her?” she needed to know what was happening

“She related to something we’re investigating. Have you seen this video.” He held up a phone with a video of a young boy, who she recognized was Spencer, the boy that Hotch protected, getting tied to the goalpost screaming and flailing.

“No, but I recognize the boy, he’s from Lincoln house, Spencer I think. By why are you guys investigating, isn't this a school matter?” She thought that the things done in the video were horrible and to such a young kid but to get the police involved seemed like overkill to her. “The young boy was found dead this morning, he was out there all night he died of heat stroke.” The officer said looking down at his feet.

“So can you get Harper for me.” Haley was shocked her best friend had helped kill someone, her best friend had helped kill a 10 year old. Even if she didn’t know that he would die she still tortured a child for fun and that made her want to vomit a little. She went over Harper’s bed and shook her awake “Hey Harper, someone needs to talk to you,” Haley was still shaking Harper until she got up “

Ok, Ok I’m getting.” Harper said, still drowsy, Haley didn’t know how she could sleep knowing she murdered a child. Haley walked Harper to the door and when Harper saw the officer she knew she was screwed and Haley didn’t know what would happen to Harper and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen.

Harper was annoyed that Haley sold her over to the police like that, but she would have probably done the same thing. The first thing she did when she saw the officer was to try to plead her case “If this is about the thing we did to the kid yesterday it was a joke, the kids fine, maybe a little messed up, but fine.”

She looked at the officer and she thought she saw his face light up in anger for just a second. “Ma’am the boy you're talking about was found dead this morning of heat stroke.” Harper was stunned that wasn’t supposed to happen; he was supposed to be fine, he was supposed to learn to never mess with the football team again but he was supposed to be fine. They said he would be fine, she had just help people murder a ten year and now she was probably going to be arrested for which would go on her permanent record. While she was thinking the officer was talking

“Do you know your rights?” He asks. Harper replies quickly ”Yes'' She squeaks out “I will repeat this one more time. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, if you can’t afford one, one will be provided.” She was getting arrested, this was very real, everything was real and she didn’t know whose fault it was maybe it was her’s, maybe it was that kid for being a weirdo and getting everyone in trouble, who knows.

Tanner Thorten didn’t think that he would ever be in an interrogation room. He was supposed to get a football scholarship and go to college and then get a good job, and whatever was going on here would definitely be on his permanent record. A police officer came in quietly and closed the door behind him “Hello, I’m Officer Tompson, and I need to ask you some questions.” The officer pulled out a phone and a sheet of paper he turned on the phone and showed a video to Tanner it was the video of that Spencer kid and the prank they pulled on him he didn’t know how the police got the video but before he could ask Officer Tompson started to speak

“We already have this list and we need to know who else was there.” he showed Tanner the list, he was on the list “I’m not going to snitch and anyway it was just a prank.” Tanner couldn’t believe that, that weirdo kid had told the cops and ruined his future. “The young boy in that video was found dead this morning, he had been out there all night and he died of heat stroke.”

The officer brought out a case file. He opened it and there were pictures of the boy, slumped forward, dead. “You're lying to me, you just want me to tell you who else was there, you're not telling the truth.” The officer had to be lying there was no way that the boy was dead. “Sir, you’re eighteen, if you go to trial you’ll be tried as an adult, you’re facing charges of aggravated assault and manslaughter it would do you good to comply with police.” Tanner didn’t know what to do. He had killed someone, someone was dead because of him. So he did as he was told, he told the police who else was there it added another five people to the list.

He was escorted out of the interrogation room by the officer, he saw his parents. He wanted to run to them and cry into his mother's shirt but he couldn’t, not yet. His father was the first one to speak “What’s going on here, why did you arrest my son.” his father was angry, but the officer was calm. “Your son was brought into questioning for the death of a young boy at his school.” If the officer felt any emotion he didn’t show it. “If you insinuating that my son would kill someone your lying he would never do anything like that.” his mom stood up and said. “I have a video i would like you to see would that be ok” The officer was still as calm as before. “Yes I would like to see it.” his father said, and at that moment Tanner knew that he was doomed, if they saw the video they would never look at him the same way and maybe he didn’t deserve to be looked at the same way.

The phone was turned on and the volume turned up, and the officer pressed play and a scene was playing out in front of him, but it felt like a play like a play he memorized the words to. He was standing in front of goal post and he had Spencer's hands pulled behind his back and the the kid was screaming and begging but no one cared they were all cheering and his friend Joseph Neal was holding the camera at this point and he asked if he needed some help with how hard the boy was struggling and Tanner saw himself turn around and look right at the camera and then he looked up at Joseph, but it didn’t matter because there was proof that it was him that there was no way it was anyone else but him, he had killed a child. He saw the look of shock on his parents's face shock that he would do that, a look of disgust passed their faces too and they were disgusted with him and what he did.

Hotch hated himself he hated himself so much if he had just not been distracted maybe Spencer wouldn’t have died, maybe Spencer would still be there laying on the coach with them, maybe they would be watching a movie and not sitting in silence.

Penelope couldn’t believe this, Spencer, a ten year old was killed, he was dead and he wasn’t coming back. She was mad at Hotch for not realizing that Spencer was gone, she was mad at herself for everything, she was mad at Emily for making her mad, she was mad at those boys who killed Spencer, she was mad.

Blake wanted to beat someone up, she wanted names, she wanted to know who it was, so she could beat them. She didn’t care if that meant that she was dropping to their level; she didn’t care about her dignity at this point; she was angry and nothing really mattered with Spencer dead.

James tried not to think of how scared Spencer probably was and he tried not to think of the pain Spencer would have been, just standing there for hours in pain and he would have yelled and cried for someone to help him and how no one was there to help me. Spencer had died alone and scared. James didn’t want to think of how they watched him struggle and fight and they just watched. He also knew that most if not all were athletes and they knew that if he didn’t die he would be in pain and sick the thought made him feel sick the thought that his peers would torture a child.

Dave wanted to be sick, everything about the situation made him want to be sick, when Hotch called him to tell him what happened he rushed to the toilet to puke, the idea of what they did made him want to be sick and he leaned over the toilet bowl and he choking and he couldn’t breath and he sat against the the stall wall and he couldn’t breath and his heart was racing and he couldn’t feel anything and everything in his brain was rushing around to make a thought and he just wanted to be sick.

JJ was so confused, what did Hotch mean, Penelope was crying but Spencer wasn’t supposed to be dead he had to be alive she wanted him to be alive. He was alive, he was just lost and she would help him live. He just had to come back, he had to come back for her.

Derek couldn’t play football anymore he hated that but he couldn’t. He had gotten a text of the video and he showed it to the police but before he did that he watched he wanted to know what had happened and wished he didn’t, he wished he had just reported it, he could still hear Spencer screaming and he couldn’t look at a football field again he couldn’t look at the goalpost again without having images of a child tied to it thrashing and screaming, without pictures of Spencer tied to it crying and begging.

Everyone was trying their best at being ok but they all know they will never forget Spencer, because Spencer was made for great things and his life was cut short, so they would do great things for him.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading I hoped you like it. I really didn't know how to end it so the endings not great my writing in general is not great.
> 
> I was going to put a trial scene in so now my search history is all about involuntary manslaughter and assault. I was also going to add William Reid but I decided against it.


End file.
